The uncalled House races: GOP leads in five of nine

There are nine House races that have still not yet been called, and a few are almost certainly headed for recounts. All the seats are currently held by Democrats. Republicans lead in five. The GOP made historic gains of 60 seats on Election Night -- the most in a midterm since World War Two. That number could jump to somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 seats if current tallies hold.

Here's the latest round of local news clips for each race:

CA-11: Democrat Jerry McNerney is up 548 votes, but tens of thousands of mail-in and provisional ballots are still to be counted. The Stockton Record: "McNerney's razor-thin margin is subject to change and he could ultimately lose to Republican challenger David Harmer. Of the 172,000-plus votes cast in a district stretching across four counties, McNerney initially had a 121-vote edge, a margin well south of 1 percentage point. Nobody is calling for a recount, yet. That's because there are tens of thousands of ballots yet to be counted, most of them mail-in ballots. In addition, there are thousands of provisional ballots, votes cast in cases such as when a first-time voter cannot provide identification." The San Jose Mercury-News: "Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney inched his way toward re-election as updated counts Friday showed him with a slim 548-vote lead over opponent and GOP nominee David Harmer. But the outcome is still a long way from settled. The gap represents a tiny 0.3 percentage points of the 176,108 votes counted in the 11th Congressional District, which remains one of nine House races nationwide still too close to call. The four county elections offices within the 11th District are plowing through the uncounted mail-in and provisional ballots but thousands of votes remain to be processed."

CA-20: Andy Vidak (R), a cherry farms, leads incumbent Jim Costa (D) by 648 votes. The Fresno Bee: "After Tuesday's election, many political watchers believed that absentee and provisional ballots left to be counted in Fresno and Kern counties, where Costa beat Vidak overwhelmingly, would go to the incumbent. In Kings County, where Vidak demolished Costa, few ballots remain uncounted. ... About 50,000 to 70,000 absentee and provisional ballots still must be counted in Fresno County, Clerk Victor Salazar said Friday. ... Counties have until Nov. 30 to certify election results. The Fresno County elections office will update vote counts each Wednesday and Friday until the election is certified."

IL-8: Republican Joe Walsh leads by 365 votes over incumbent Melissa Bean (D). Bean picked up some votes from absentee ballots in Cook County. The Chicago Tribune: "Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean continued to chip away at Republican challenger Joe Walsh's lead during absentee vote counting Friday, with her spokesman saying she could make further gains, even in areas Walsh dominated on election night. Bean picked up 15 more votes on Walsh, trimming his lead in the 8th District to 350 votes out of more than 200,000 cast. Walsh could take a healthy boost from absentee ballots in Lake and McHenry counties if those votes mirror Election Day tallies when they are added to the total on Nov. 16, the last day absentee ballots can be received. ... Hundreds of ballots remain unaccounted for in Cook County, while Lake County will add more than 500 votes to the total and McHenry County will likely add a few dozen more, according to election authorities. Bean's gains have come from absentee vote counting in Cook County, where valid absentee ballots will continue to be counted in coming days."

KY-6: County officials affirmed Ben Chandler's (D) lead. The Lexington Herald-Leader: "U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, leads Republican Andy Barr by 649 votes, according to official vote totals from all 16 counties in the 6th Congressional District. The last of the county totals, which have been certified by county clerks but have not yet been given the final stamp of approval by the Kentucky Board of Elections, were submitted to the secretary of state's office Friday. The official count is Chandler with 119,812 votes and Barr with 119,163 votes, said Les Fugate, spokesman for the secretary of state." A recanvass will take place Nov. 12. "The state Board of Elections is scheduled to certify the vote Nov. 22."

NY-1 (Suffolk County, Long Island): After a voting machine recanvass, Randy Altschuler (R) has taken over the lead from incumbent Tim Bishop (D). "Altschuler leads Bishop, a Democrat, by about 400 votes, both campaigns said, citing data from the Suffolk County Board of Elections. That represents a swing of almost 4,000 votes because Bishop was ahead by 3,461 earlier this week," Newsday (Long Island) reports.

NY-25: Tea Party-backed Ann Marie Buerkle (R) leads Dann Maffei (D) by 684 votes. The Syracuse Post-Standard: "A routine audit and recanvassing will begin next week in all four counties before absentee and provisional ballots are opened. Election officials say it could be two weeks or more before a winner is determined."

TX-27: Solomon Ortiz (D) trails by 799 792 votes with all the votes in. He's going to request a recount. KRGV-TV: "Ortiz says there were a number of irregularities in the election. The incumbent Democrat is asking for a manual recount of the votes." AP: "Under Texas rules, he'll have to pay for the re-count unless it affects the election's final outcome." The Corpus Christi Caller: "U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz will not have the votes necessary to overtake Congressman-elect Blake Farenthold after all provisional and overseas ballots are counted in the 27th District. As many as 736 ballots remain uncounted." [UPDATE: The lead is now 792.]

VA-11: Gerry Connolly (D) claimed victory for a narrow win. By the way, he was hospitalized for an undisclosed condition. "As of Friday afternoon, Connolly led Oakton businessman Keith Fimian (R) by 968 votes, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections site. Connolly led by 487 votes Tuesday night, and that number steadily grew as the week progressed and more ballots were counted," the Washington Post reports, adding, "As his reelection race remained unresolved, Connolly was hospitalized for a condition his office would not disclose. 'Congressman Connolly visited his doctor for a checkup earlier this week, and his doctor recommended he be hospitalized for further testing,' [Campaign Manager James] Walkinshaw said. 'The details are a private matter, but he is doing well and will be heading home this weekend. He expects to be back to work for the people of Northern Virginia on Monday.'"

WA-2: Rick Larsen (D) leads by 3,841 votes, a slight loss of votes from 4,100 after counting in Snohomish County. The (Everett) Herald: "Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen seems almost certain of re-election Saturday night after another tally of ballots gave him his largest lead yet over Republican challenger John Koster."